Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Bulldog Man here, and let me brag a bit on the
Mrs.Being an old road-dog, it’s nice to
be spoiled once in a while.I’ve got
more miles on me than the International Space Station.Sometimes I feel I’ve been around the world
in 80 planes. I came back from Oregon for a work-related run and the Mrs. asked
me to try out a new shave cream she wants to make for gifts.She sold the Bulldog on this stuff.Light and creamy, easily applied with a good
brush, and it lathers nicely.With a
good sharp razor, this shave cream left my face as smooth as a Baboon’s ass, just
not as colorful.Not only do I recommend
that she make some for Christmas gifts, but I want her to fill my shave kit and
put a few extra in the closet for the old Bulldog.Bulldog rating on homemade shave cream: 4 out
of 4 paws, with a scratch behind the ears!!I copied the Shave Cream recipe from and earlier post and pasted it below.

Yet another idea for Christmas gift giving, homemade Shave Cream.

I found the recipe here, borrowed the basics, and modified the recipe.

Homemade Shave Cream

¼ cup Almond Oil

3 Tablespoons Shea Butter

2 Tablespoons of Aloe Gel

2 Tablespoons of Honey

1 Tablespoon Guar Gum

2 Teaspoons baking soda

¼ cup Liquid Castille Soap

12 drops of Grapefruit Seed Extract

10 drops of Pine Essential Oil (select any oil of your choice)

10 drops of Bergamot Essential Oil (mix another oil of your choice to change the total scent)

Melt the Shea Butter in a measuring cup or a glass canning jar.Add Almond Oil, Aloe Gel, Honey, Guar Gum, baking soda, Grapefruit Seed Extract, mix well with mixer. Mix in the essential oil (s) of your choice.Place cream in a pump container or a jar (plastic or glass).

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Bulldog Man and I purchased this flashlight at our
local Army Surplus store, cost $26.00.We saw the same flashlight at the local gun show and it was going for
$32.00.Internet search shows for sale
at Target for $34.99.

This flashlight comes highly recommended by Bulldog
Man and me.It has the following
functions which makes it a good value, for a small flashlight.Great for emergencies, bugging out, and
everyday carry.With the right bracket,
it would make a good night light on any tactical shotgun.

Dropped by Bulldog Man on the first real day of use,
with damage to the internal circuit.Contacted company.Instant response
and friendly replacement through the mail within a week of receipt.Despite Bulldog Man’s clumsiness, company was
more than willing to ensure that he was satisfied.Give them a try.

I’ve stashed a few bottles of Clove Oil in my first
aid kit.After burning the inside of the
roof of my mouth on hot food, I was ready to try anything to relieve the pain.I took a cotton ball and sprinkled several
drops of the Clove Oil on it.Then (not
following instructions) I placed the cotton ball directly on the burn inside my
mouth and held it there for 30 seconds.After the 30 seconds, I removed the cotton ball and felt no more burning
pain on the inside of my mouth.The
instructions state if using Clove Oil as a treatment, you should dilute it with
water when touching the skin or insides of your mouth.Only use the Clove Oil straight up when
applying directly to a tooth that is hurting.

*****

Yesterday, while watching the dogs play outside in
the back part of the property, I came across this beautiful butterfly perched
on the dirty bird bath.I hadn’t had a
chance yet clean the bird bath out, and put new water in for the birds.

With the temperatures dropping into the low 20’s the
late evening, early morning hours, and somewhere between 46 – 60 degrees during
the day it’s strange to see a butterfly.I’m thinking with all these drastic weather changes the poor thing is
confused.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

This afternoon Bulldog Man and I took our son to the
theatre to watch Red Dawn.The movie
opened with current events occurring around the world.Great movie to watch, but I was a little
disappointed in the cinematography; it was jerky, like video clips seen in
those video games.All in all, it’s a
movie worth watching.

********

Update on our son Tank. Early this morning, we were
scheduled to see the orthopedic surgeon on a follow up appointment for the work
completed on our son’s hand.The surgeon
advised that Tank’s hand is healing and it’s time to remove the pins.To remove the pins will require a live x-ray
and another surgery.The doctor also
found another problem; apparently the tendon is an issue and may require
additional surgery.Right now we’re
waiting for a phone call to schedule surgery for removal of pins and a MRI
test.

********

“Thanksgiving Day is a jewel, to set in
the hearts of honest men; but be careful that you do not take the day, and
leave out the gratitude.” –E.P. Powell

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Cranberry Orange Sauce for Thanksgiving and any
occasion that tickles your fancy.

Cranberry
Orange Sauce

9 cups of fresh
cranberries

Zest 2 oranges
then cut in half and juice

4 cups sugar

4 cups water

In
a pot, pour water, sugar, orange juice, and zest; stir thoroughly.Bring to a boil (keep stirring), turn heat
down to medium.Add fresh cranberries
continue stirring for approximately 12 minutes, pull off the stove.Use a potato masher to mash up some (not all)
of the cranberries.Refrigerate if
you’re going to use the same day you make them, or you can process the
cranberries in pint jars, ½ inch head space for 10 minutes in a water bath.

After
processing and once cooled, the cranberry sauce will solidify.

Please
refer to Ball’s Canning booklet if you’re not familiar with canning procedures.

*****

Yet
another idea for Christmas gift giving, homemade Shave Cream.

I
found the recipe here, borrowed the
basics, and modified the recipe.

Homemade Shave Cream

¼ cup Almond Oil

3 Tablespoons
Shea Butter

2 Tablespoons of
Aloe Gel

2 Tablespoons of
Honey

1 Tablespoon Guar
Gum

2 Teaspoons
baking soda

¼ cup Liquid
Castille Soap

12 drops of
Grapefruit Seed Extract

10 drops of Pine
Essential Oil (select any oil of your choice)

10 drops of
Bergamot Essential Oil (mix another oil of your choice to change the total
scent)

Melt
the Shea Butter in a measuring cup or a glass canning jar.Add Almond Oil, Aloe Gel, Honey, Guar Gum,
baking soda, Grapefruit Seed Extract, mix well with mixer. Mix in the essential oil (s) of
your choice.Place cream in a pump
container or a jar (plastic or glass).

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

We welcomed a new member to our house on
Saturday.A little girl approximately 6
pounds, and supposedly 3years of age (I doubt that, see below).

This is “Bug”. She’s very nosey inquisitive and loves
her new home. Bug loves to be right next to you and under your feet, if she has
her way, she’d rather be in your arms.The reason I doubt she’s 3 years old, she wants to bite everything wood
(chairs, TV stand, table), she cries if she can’t find you, and always wants
your attention.I’ve picked up toys for
teething, soft dog treats and food, we’re constantly keeping her busy, and
letting her know she’s okay (building her confidence).Our other dog, Beans, adores her.

*****

This is the final product, now I need to place the Chai Tea
in smaller jars and dress up the jars for the holidays.

As explained in previous posts, Christmas this year
will be all homemade gifts, and blessings from the heart.Several members of our family enjoy Chai Tea,
and go to Starbucks often.Instead of
providing gift cards to Starbucks, I’ve made the Chai Tea mix myself, and
stored the tea in mason jars.All I need to do now is pickup some beautiful
Christmas material and make a topper for each Mason jar, place a name tag on
each jar, and there you have it; Christmas gifts from the heart for several
members of the family.

Mix
well, I throw all the ingredients into my food processor and blend until mixed
well and not as coarse.

Place
mixture into Mason jars and seal.

When
making a Chai Tea, mix 2 heaping tablespoons in a mug, pour hot water, and stir
well to mix the tea mixture in with the water.

*****

Sky
pictures, you’ll notice a tower standing in these pictures.I’m at the airport, no I’m not
traveling.My husband has traveled every
weekend, actually long extended weekends for the last 2 months throughout the
U.S. for work.While waiting to pick up
my husband, I entertained myself with taking pictures at the airport.Here are a few of the pictures I snapped of a
changing sunset.

*****

Have
you ever had a craving for something and just didn’t feel like running to a
store to get the product?Well, I had a
craving last night for orange rolls and decided to make them.To make it easier on my hands (because they
hurt due to arthritis pain), I feed all the ingredients into my bread machine
and selected option 8 on the machine.Selecting
this option, the bread machine will mix, knead, and rise, for me
automatically.Once done, I rolled out
the dough on to my countertop and spread out the orange filling over the dough.
Then roll the dough up like a cake roll,
cut dough into rolls and place them in a greased glass container for
baking.Here is a picture of the end
result.My dough recipe was found here, great blog
site to follow.As for the filling and
glaze recipe, you can find them here.

*****

On
a cold day there is nothing better than a hot bowl of soup and homemade
biscuits.The soup of the day; vegetable ground beef, topped
with Parmigiano Reggiano.

Soups
and stews are amazing foods to warm the stomach and soul when cold outside, and
it’s good for the body J

Thursday, November 8, 2012

The last two days feels Old Man Winter has decided
to visit this part of Oklahoma. I have snapped a few pictures of the changes we
are seeing.Everything is changing; the
grass is no longer green, the leaves and flowers on the trees are turning
yellow and brown.Some trees are showing
signs of dying.Will we have the harsh
winter as predicted this year, or will it be warm?Mother Nature may just surprise us.Sunday we’re supposed to have rain and the
potential of snow.

Saturday, November 3, 2012

I have followed Paratus
Familia Blog since creating my blog on January 18,
2012.Enola Gay, of Paratus Familia is a
conservative, independent, self reliant homesteader, who lives off the grid and
shares her stories on country living, children, faith, family, preparedness,
government, women’s roles, socio-political commentaries and recipes.

My recommendation; if you’re looking for a great
blog to follow or use as a reference, while working toward becoming self
reliant, or creating a homestead, check this blog out.

Check out this awesome gear I recently purchased
from the Paratus Familia Blog.

I wanted to take this opportunity to welcome
Michele from Mystic Mud. Thank you for joining my blog.Mystic Mud is a fabulous blog, with an amazing
family attempting to lead a self sustaining life.Hey
Blogger friends, check out this blog, you
won’t be disappointed. Glad to have you following my blog,
please sit back and enjoy the ride.

I wanted to take this opportunity to welcome at Mamma Bear
at Challenged
Survival andJohnnyBGood at THE SIMPLE LIFEThank
you for joining my blog. Hey Blogger friends, check out these blogs, you won’t be disappointed. Glad to
have you following my blog, please sit back and enjoy the ride.

Friday, November 2, 2012

I was in a hurry, and not sure what to make for
lunch before Bulldog Man came home for lunch.I decided to make potato soup with the last 4 potatoes I had left in the
cabinet.I cleaned the potatoes, chopped
them up and placed the potatoes in a pot of chicken broth.Then I added 4 cups of water, 1 carrot, 1
celery stock, ¼ of chopped onion, pepper, and salt (to taste).After all the vegetables were cooked, I added
1 can of evaporated milk.Stirred well
and brought the temperature of the burner down to simmer until ready to serve.For toppings on top of the soup, I fried up
bacon and pulled out the shredded mild cheddar.There you have it folks, potato soup (yes, I know I forgot the chives as
a topper).Not really, lol…..I just
didn’t have chives in the house.

If you like a thick broth use cornstarch or flour to thicken

After reading a post on Country Living in the Ozarks
on oatmeal bread, I had to make some.The post and recipe is here.The bread is great, and the recipe gets a
thumbs-up from Bulldog Man.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Here is yet another example of how some in our
society treat Veterans returning home.This story makes my stomach turn.I don’t care who you are, these soldiers coming home or traveling
through areas within the United States have fought and served for YOUR
FREEDOM. Show them the RESPECT they’ve earned and deserve.

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